Mill hopes to revive a royal tradition

The Queen during a visit to Alnwick. As a baby, she had an Otterburn Mill pram rug.

Published:14:00Friday 19 October 2018

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Otterburn Mill is hoping to revive a royal tradition, following this week’s announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting a baby.

In 1926, following the birth of Princess Elizabeth (our current monarch), royal patronage for the Mill was extended as Buckingham Palace requested a custom-made pram rug.

Now company owner Euan Pringle is hoping to gift the royal baby with a pram rug.

The royal love affair with Otterburn tweeds, woollens and rugs began many years before the birth of our Queen when her great grandmother, Queen Alexandra, was on a visit encompassing Alnwick Castle and was presented with a specially-made, hand-spun travel rug from Otterburn Mill.

From the same product run that produced our Queen’s own pram rug, there were 20 or so left over which were bought by Fenwick’s of Newcastle, a regular client of Otterburn Mill at the time. They sold out in two weeks, marking the start of the Otterburn pram rug which is still made today.

Otterburn Mill was founded by William Waddell in 1821 and was owned by generations of the family until 1995.